May you always remember that YOU have the power to change your world.
"It's the most wonderful time of the year".... For me and my family, this is the most CRAZY, wonderful time of the year! We deck the halls and then there's baking and shopping and wrapping, fa la la la la la la la la. Throw in a birthday, other than baby Jesus', right in the middle of December, and you can feel my need for a blood orange martini!
All of this aside, last night my daughter Emily and her wonderful boyfriend Karlo decided to make a gingerbread house. I suggested the milk carton, graham cracker idea and was quickly shot down. They wanted to make the gingerbread from scratch and they wanted it to be a "Greek" gingerbread house! I didn't want to squash their spirit, (well maybe a little) but I know what baking from scratch and building a house of candy and cookies entails. This project wasn't going to be as simple as they planned.
I was excited by their enthusiasm, (oh to be young and believe that everything happens fast and easy) but I wasn't sure of their time management or decorating skills. Like most college kids, they woke at 11:00, searched for nutrition, and then around 2:00 were ready to go fetch the ingredients. By the time they shopped, drew up their architectural plans, (complete with a balcony and dome) made the gingerbread, and oh, by the way, cooked dinner (FABULOUS Greek meal) and began to frame the house it was 10:15 Uuuggghhhh! I stayed for a while, curious of the method to their madness, but overwhelmed by the blobs of sugar and egg-white glue that sent me running for bed. Visions of hardened egg whites and frosting on the carpet made the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up and I feared for the disappointment of a gingerbread house gone wrong.
As I headed up the stairs, the gingerbread walls were falling and the red solo cups were breaking out. I'm not entirely sure if they were for structural support or moral support, my guess is it was a little of both. In the middle of the night came sounds of whisking, whisking, whisking. My nightmares took me to a leaning, dilapidated, blue and white mess upon my waking in the morning.
The good news: I did not crush any spirits! When I made it to the kitchen I was shocked to discover that they had accomplish gingerbread greatness! My daughter, nicknamed Em-Azing for a reason, had accomplished something I never expected. I knew she and Karlo would make the best effort of putting their gingerbread house together, for they are both hard workers, but I honestly didn't expect it to be great.
As I drank my coffee, soaking in their success. I began to think about the beauty of being young. As an older and "wiser" person, I often limit my fun factor. I determine: how much time a project will take, time is always of the essence; how much energy I will need to expend, because I am definitely old and tired. And how much knowledge I will need to execute my task successfully. This often times results in doing nothing at all or choosing an easier route, such as milk carton gingerbread houses. As young adults, Emily and Karlo were never once detoured, for their only goal was to have fun and succeed. I've come to realize that their greatest desire in any adventure or challenge that they embark upon, is not only accomplish their desired goal, but to always have fun. While I didn't doubt their ability to have fun making a gingerbread house, I didn't believe that they could make it from scratch, in the time allotted. I think Norman Vincent Peale said it best: "Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." Emily and Karlo had these very key ingredients already in place before they began their journey and therefor their success was eminent.
As my children get older and bring home wonderful friends, (the house has been bustling with so much love and laughter this holiday season) I feel blessed to be reminded, that to live life fully is to embrace each moment, believe in my abilities and take time out to have fun during this very busy season. Who knew one could learn so much though the baking of gingerbread houses.
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| 1:10 am |
May you always be willing to embark upon great adventures and not be detoured by naysayers!
"A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, 'How heavy is this glass of water?' Answers called out ranged from four ounces up to twelve. The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.
"'If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.'
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden, if we feel we must.
"'So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax. Pick them up later after you've rested.'"
— Author Unknown
Life was never intended to be a burden. It is a journey to be explored and celebrated. So often we shoulder the burdens of our lives and carry them around for all to see, thus diminishing the joy of our everyday lives. You see, if you constantly carry the weight of the world on your shoulders you will have no energy to pick up the simple pleasures of everyday life.
May you always be willing to set down your burdens and enjoy life.
"I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."
~Georgia O'Keefe
dentsu-paint-sound-sculptures
May you always be willing to enjoy the beauty that today brings.
~Georgia O'Keefe
May you always be willing to enjoy the beauty that today brings.
"Anger is like a fat, ugly frog that no one wants to kiss. But even a child knows that when we kiss a frog, a gift appears."
-- Robert Holden
Author of Shift Happens
-- Robert Holden
Author of Shift Happens
We all know there is nothing pretty about anger, but the truth is it gets even uglier when we try to suppress it. The further down we try to push it, the more insidious it becomes, outwardly causing irrational thinking, depression, rage and violence, while inwardly creating ulcers and heart attacks, migraines and addictions. And every time we try to hide our anger, we miss an opportunity to heal and change.
Instead of trying to bury our anger, we're better off when we
acknowledge its presence; accept that it has arisen to expose our doubts and fears, our old wounds and our own lack of self. Once we've "kissed the frog" by accepting its presence, we can let it go, blessing our old wounds, releasing our fears, and restoring inner peace as we choose not to react but to create a better way for ourselves and our world.
Instead of trying to bury our anger, we're better off when we
acknowledge its presence; accept that it has arisen to expose our doubts and fears, our old wounds and our own lack of self. Once we've "kissed the frog" by accepting its presence, we can let it go, blessing our old wounds, releasing our fears, and restoring inner peace as we choose not to react but to create a better way for ourselves and our world.
~Kate Nowak
May you always be willing to let go of your anger and embrace the opportunity for growth.
"I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances may be. I know how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of...facing either plenty or poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me." ~Philippians 4:11-13
Battling, with life's ups and downs, doesn't change things. As my mother says..."It is, what it is." Many people resort to burying their head in the sand and pretending that nothing is wrong. This doesn't help either. But I know what does help.
Acceptance.
Acceptance of life's difficult situations doesn't make things harder, it makes things easier. Acceptance empowers us to see life through a different set of eyes. Emily Perl Kingsley said it beautifully in a story she penned years ago.
"...it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the wheels of the jumbo jet touch down, you awaken from your slumbers, and you hear a flight attendant's cheery voice saying, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."
In life, we are often faced with unintended trips to Holland. It can be a break-up, lingering illness, hardship, loss of a loved one. Or any situation where we are left powerless and vulnerable. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is open your heart and accept whatever comes, with gratitude. Acceptance is powerful; it can turn turmoil to peace and helplessness to independence.
Yes, being in a place not of our choosing is difficult. However, I have found that in times of struggle, the rewards of growth and love can be abundant.
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| :) |
Smiling Makes us Attractive
Smiling Changes our Mood
Smiling is Contagious
Smiling Relieves Stress
Smiling Boosts your Immune System
Smiling Lowers your Blood Pressure
Smiling Releases Endorphins,
Natural Pain Killers and Serotonin
Smiling Lifts the Face and Makes you Look Younger
Smiling Makes you Seem Successful
Smiling Helps you Stay Positive
Life is always brighter from behind a smile :)
So choose to be HAPPY, and bring happiness to others
So do the CRAZY thing, that scares you
So do the CRAZY thing, that scares you
So be the person who INSPIRES others
So embrace each day with GRATITUDE and appreciation
So LAUGH out-loud and let your joy be heard
So sing and dance and let your CREATIVITY flow
So LIVE and LOVE as though it's the only thing that matters
What's standing in your way?
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